The Arizona Republic
Editorial Board did not have its facts straight when it blasted the
Legislature's approval of a plan to teach English to nearly 200,000
non-English speaking students ("Plainly speaking," Editorial,
Wednesday).

In calling for Gov. Janet Napolitano to veto the bill to fund teaching
English to children speaking another language - a measure that passed
with bipartisan support - the board claims the legislation will not
satisfy a federal court order.

The problem is, neither The Republic nor the governor have the
final say on this important piece of legislation. The last word belongs
to a federal judge in Tucson.

He alone gets to
decide whether the Legislature's plan meets legal requirements of
federal law. A veto eliminates the chance that the plan will receive a
fair shot from the judge.

As for the plan itself, we believe The Republic was incorrect on
several key points.

First, the plan was neither put together late at night nor at the last
minute. In fact, legislators have been looking at this issue for years,
with a significant amount of time invested this session to come up with
an innovative way to fund the teaching of children of immigrants. The
plan gives each school district a choice about how to teach these
students.

Second, the legislation does not call for another study. Rather, it asks
the school districts to come up with a plan to teach English immersion
and apply for money to fund the real cost of the program.

This addresses both the concerns expressed by the judge regarding
"arbitrary and capricious" funding numbers and promotes accountability.
The latter is a concept that should be a staple of all taxpayer-funded
programs, but which is too often disregarded by The Republic.

Lastly, the cost study that was devised for the Legislature fell far
short of what the contract required. Providing money at the cost study's
levels would have left the state open to more claims of creating funding
levels in an "arbitrary and capricious" manner.

The editorial ignores the fact that numerous good-faith negotiations
took place with legislative Democrats, following an understanding
between Republican leaders and the governor that Flores be
addressed before the session ended.

This was done, and it was accomplished at first-year funding levels
sought by the governor and Democrat leaders. The plan sitting before the
governor addresses the issues before the court.

The plan as passed places an additional $28.5 million into the program
(on top of the more than $40 million added in 2001). The bottom line is
that the court has asked for the state "to follow through with the
practices, resources and personnel necessary to transform theory into
reality."

The court also said that the current mode of funding "bears no relation
to the actual funding needed," which is why we advocated for a new way
of doing business based on actual need. The approved plan provides the
resources to train and monitor districts to ensure the schools have the
support they need from the state to teach the children who require
English immersion.

We have produced a plan that addresses the issues in a way that the
description "arbitrary and capricious" can be replaced with
"accountability and performance."

We stand by the legislative plan as practical and thoughtful, and should
Gov. Napolitano follow the Editorial Board's recommendation to veto the
legislation, she would in essence be deeming herself governor and judge.

Jim Weiers, R-Phoenix, is the speaker of the
Arizona House of Representatives. Ken Bennett, R-Prescott, is president
of the Arizona State Senate.